Foot Injury - Cause?

SuperCove

Morning All,

I have been riding more and more miles over recent weeks but have started to notice that the ball of my right foot is really starting to hurt?? It feels bruised in some way but I have not taken any hits and come off the bike.

Would this be caused by the constant shock that travels through the bike and into my feet via the pedals or could it be caused by something else?

I currently rides with flats fitted to the bike and stay pretty relaxed whilst travelling quickly over rough ground so am little confused as I have never come across this before.

It is now starting to cause a problem as I can not ride at the moment due to the pain when I push down against the pedal...

Thoughts????

paul.skibum

Check your shoes are OK - no lumps in the footbed or under it? If they are wearing oddly the flats might be diggin in a bit perhaps?

SuperCove

I have checked the footbed and all seems well there...

dave_hill

What sort of shoes are you wearing?

If you're wearing running shoes (i.e. trainers) or indeed anything with a sole which is too flexible it will allow your foot to bend over the pedal the wrong way.

Proper cycling shoes are the best, but flat-soled skate styled shoes (such as DC, Etnies of Nike 6.0) are fine if used with decent sized platforms.

SuperCove

I wear a pair of flat soled trainers that I have been wearing for years... maybe it is time for a change??

Do you think a swap to spd's would help?? Because of the stiffer sole?

The Rookie

Any proper cycling shoe will have a stiffer sole, Aldi are doing some SPD compatables from Thursday for £19.99.

I have just gone SPD switching to Spech Tahoe shoes (circa £50-60) form the very stiff soled karrimor trainers I was wearing and the difference is chalk and cheese!

That's not to say you need to go SPD, but you could get some SPD compatabel shoes and leav the siole intact and ride your flats until you want to try SPD's! (Merlin are currently selling Shimano M520 SPD's for £20 delivered!)

Simon

SuperCove

I've been thinking of swapping over to SPDs anyway so maybe now is the chance.

dave_hill

The Beginner wrote:

Any proper cycling shoe will have a stiffer sole, Aldi are doing some SPD compatables from Thursday for £19.99.

For what it's worth I'd be tempted to give it a go. At least you won't have spent a mahoosive amount of money if it doesn't suit.

beski

Is there any inflamation or redness around the joint of the toe? if so it could be gout!

SuperCove

Yep... it is red and imflamed so maybe, a trip to Doc's I thinks ??

I thought Gout was only linked to the drinking of excessive amounts of alcohol but i've just had a read up on it and am quite surprised what can bring it on.

A diet high in Uric Acid is normally the cause... what contains Uric Acid??

- Foods high in protien: Meat, Fish and Poultery
- Seafood
- Dried Pulses
- Foods high in fructose... Fruit then
- Asparagus, Cauliflower, Mushrooms, Spinach

I eat a good balanced diet and eat plenty of the above so I maybe suffering from it.

Dazzza

If you had gout it won't just be the ball of your foot, it'll be the whole of your foot.

Id go with the shoe option first, don't know about the aldi shoes just try a par in your lbs and see what you like.

By using spd's you may end up worse off as the engagement point is very close to the ball of your foot anyway, only pain free cure for me was a pair of specalized insoles, they provide decent outsole support which i find may shoes lacked, now i can manage 8 hours epic rides and the only thing that hurts is my backside.

Though that's more down to me trying different saddles all the time.

SuperCove

I thnk I am going to have to wait for it to heal before I try anything.

Splottboy

It may be Metatarsalagia - if I spelt it right, probably not!
It occurs under the ball of the foot and is inflammation between the metatarsals in your foot. ( Was big news with Prima Dona football players a while back, as they were using shoes that were too soft, for their very delicate tootsies! )

I had it about 3 yrs ago, and had special foam inserts made which really helped.
I've got it back in a lesser form as I couldn't find my normal shoes/pedals and used different ones lately. Hobbling a bit but it eases through the day's activities.

Feels like a bruise under the ball of the foot, or even a small stone in your shoe eh?
It won't go overnight, but hangs around lessening each day, if you don't go jogging...

Inserts raised the foot arch and took pressure of it, they felt weird at first, but ok later on.
Don't do any standing up cycling/sprinting as this can make it worse. Check your cleats too Hope this helps you out, as I know it is very frustrating/painful injury to have.

beski

Dazzza wrote:

If you had gout it won't just be the ball of your foot, it'll be the whole of your foot.

:

Yes it would, the gout usually affects just one joint, normally the big toe. I suffer and have adjusted my diet accordingly. Drinking lots of water helps the kidneys filter out uric acid. Beer is worse than other alcohol (due to the yeast) but all alcohol makes it worse

Dazzza

Oh right, i have a friend with it and pretty much the whole of his foot goes up like a balloon.

beski

Mine is usually the big toe joint, its bl**dy painful, the first time I had it I thought I had cracked my foot on something and went to A&E for an X-ray!

SuperCove

Thats exactly what it feels like... that swhy I thought I had injured it riding.

beski

It may not be gout, only a trip to the docs will confirm or otherwise. Best of luck with it though.

skidzymagee

Gout usually comes on when you start to do extensive riding and your diet is slightly off . Your urine will smell a bit skanty and possibly be a little darker . avoid eating too much tomato and spicy chillies . Plenty of water with a bit of lemon morning and night , and if you eat a lettuce , rocket and spinach sandwich every day it will balance your acids .
Most gout cases are left foot big toe area , can be very painful and the skin looks shiney

Trust me i`m a doctor

skidzymagee

For the pain try Cuprofen max strength not on an empty stomach though . If you go to docs they will usually prescribe indomethacin as a 1st shot .

SuperCove

For once there is actually in Doctor in the house!!!

I thought my diet was pretty good, maybe a few tweaks are needed. Luckily I have a fridge full of letuce and spinach at the moment... better get chomping my way through it all.

The pain is in the right foot not my left.... and is very painful, I can hardly put any weight on it at the moment.

Any ideas how ling it may last ?? or is that down how active I am in trying to get rid of it ??

skidzymagee

Its actually the sodium urate crystals that build up in the joint , so avoid salt and sugar refined carbs , When you start intensive exercise it causes a disturbance in your protein metabolism .
avoid the following, alcohol can cause crystal formation . fried foods and saturated fats .
Anchovies ,herrings sardines, tomatoes ,peppers , aubergines potatoes, mushrooms chillies
Tobacco solanine content .

The easy method
6- 8 glasses of water per day .. the morning glass / night with squeeze of lemon . This also stops kidney stones from forming same problem too much uric acid
veg juice smoothies as the body is usually in an acid state
plenty of green food they contain chlorophyll
cherries and pineapple
vitamin c tablets will also help along with fish oil cod liver oil High strength 1000mg per day

The good news ,if you alter your diet slightly with the extra greens and daily cod liver oil and the water and lemon squeeze morning and night , it will disappear in a week or so .
You can then introduce back the things you like .
If this does not work, go and see your doctor as long term it will cause a degenerative joint condition . They may have to prescribe a drug to stop the uric forming . ie blood test etc . My experience, is that you have answered it by saying you have stepped up your riding, hence the gout ..

The clue is the shiny joint and the scanty and strong smelling urine ( like the cats been in ) Its sometimes that painful, people cannot walk on it . To relieve the pain try a warm shower and then turn it to cold onto the joint 3 or 4 times hot then cold this improves circulation and eliminates the crystals ..

SuperCove

Thanks Skidzymagee!!!

I'll try all that and see how I get on.

I have literally tripled the number of miles that I ride a week... should I also wind this back abit ??

skidzymagee

No you will be fine as long as the pain is not too much . Also make sure your shoes are pretty comfy not too tight . Believe me, riders with gout and coccyx are a common theme . On another note one of my riding buddies is a facial reconstruction surgeon . He was operating on a rider last week and asked him how his motorbike accident happened . He was on a bicycle . Yes we wear snell approved full face helmets .

beski

I've found that rosehip tablets daily help me more than the cod liver oil, and fresh cherries are definately helpful, or cherry concentrate diluted in water. Also trying to drink more when out riding, (dehydration meaning you're not flushing out the uric acid) I drink a pint of water before I set off usually. Celery seeds are supposed to help aswell, I tried some sprinkled on my food but I'm not so sure as to their effectiveness. Avoid aspirin for the pain because it increases uric acid levels

captainfly

I find Allopurinol works best of all, for my gout :roll:

If it's gout you will know it, broken bones don't feel so bad and keep feeling as bad. Go to the doctors to get a proper diagnosis then go from there.